Gabbert overcame a shaky start to throw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Vance McDonald before the Houston Texans rallied in the second half against San Francisco’s reserves to beat the 49ers 24-13 on Sunday.
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Christian Ponder is joining 2011 draft-class quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick, the latter of whom hasn’t thrown in 49ers practice for almost a week because of shoulder tightness.
It’s hard to make a good case that losing a quarterback who hasn’t thrown a pass in a regular season game in two years is a big deal, but for the San Francisco 49ers, losing Thad Lewis for the season with a torn ACL would be an exception.
Ponder was drafted 12th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in 2011, two picks behind current 49ers’ No. 1 quarterback Blaine Gabbert, and he started 36 games over four seasons.
Blaine Gabbert, who is competing with Kaepernick for the starting position, will open up against the Texans.
Bad news for Victor Cruz, as the former superstar wide receiver of the New York Giants is back on the shelf. He completed just 4-of-10 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown, but the “up” was essentially his availability. No. 7 got his first chance at quarterback for the 49ers thanks to an Alex Smith concussion and ended up Wally Pipping Smith for the starting gig.
New York Giants first-round draft pick Eli Apple has a strained knee and his status is being listed as day to day. Kelly wouldn’t say whether or not Kaepernick would run with the first-team offense if healthy. Gabbert represents a safer floor than Colin Kaepernick, but also a much lower ceiling.
“It’s really a day-to-day thing”, Kelly said of Kaepernick’s injury. Carlos will get a lot of touches this season and the team needs him to be on the top of his game. “It wouldn’t have been fair to put him in and then judge him on that in the competition”, Kelly said.
San Francisco spent last season trying not to lose; they need to spend this season going all-in to try to win.
Good for Kelly – and, of course, very good for Kaepernick, who is way overdue for something positive to happen for him this summer.
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When it was all said and done, the 49ers had outgained Houston 302 yards to 89 and run a whopping 50 plays to Houston’s 25 in the first half. The only real question becomes whether they pay him $11.9 million to sit on the bench, or whether they give him $11.9 million (less whatever he’d made as a free agent) to go away. Both running backs will see plenty of carries because Chip Kelly runs more plays than a typical National Football League team.
